Exhibition

About this object

Mummiform shabti wearing a tripartite wig with striations added in black except for the lower ends of the front lappets that are left unpainted. The arms are crossed right over left above the waist, and the hands hold a pair of hoes added in black. The wrists wear bracelets. The left hand holds the cord for a basket that is painted behind the left shoulder although the colour is now rather faded and the area abraded. A wesekh–collar is worn across the chest comprising of six strands, the lower one ending in drop–shaped beads. The face is a little worn across the nose and mouth. Eyes with brows are added in black. The cosmetic lines are long, reaching almost to the ears. The body of the shabti has six horizontal bands of painted inscription, with a single vertical column at the back.

Museum records state that the shabti is from Saft el–Hinna tomb 46. Rev. J. Garrow Duncan, a member of Finders Petrie’s team, was the director of excavations at Saft el–Hinna in 1906. An entry in Notebook 90 for tomb 46 notes that ‘8 ushabtis’ and a large pot were found. Distribution lists in the Petrie Museum Archives, University College London, note that the shabti was sent to Liverpool.

Transliteration and translation of the inscription: sHD Wsir smr-nsw.t PA-Ra-Hr-rs.f Dd.f i SAb.ty ipn ir [i]p.[t]w ir Hsb[.tw] Wsir smr-nsw.t PA-Ra-Hr-rs.f r ir.t kA.t nb[.t] ir r m Xr.t-nTr srwD sx.t r smH.y wDb.w Xn.t Say n iAb.tt r imn.tt is.tw Hw sDb.w im m s Xr.wt.f iry m nw nb ra nb m.k [wi] kA.t mi sp.k nb, "The illuminated one, the Osiris, the Companion of the King, Pa–Re–her–res–ef, he speaks: O, these shabtis, if one counts, if one reckons the Osiris, the Companion of the King, Pa– Re–hor–res–ef to do all works that are to be done there in the realm of the dead – to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the river banks, to transport by boat sand of the east to the west – now indeed obstacles are implanted therewith – as a man at his duties, at any time daily; ‘here I am’ you shall say like any deed".

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